Showing off wealth on social media? Get ready for the backlash
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous this is not.
On social media, if you’re posting about the new car you just bought — or maybe the yacht — flexing wealth can be a fraught move. Though it may seem the only thought behind a photo of an expensive bottle of champagne or an exotic vacation might be the desire to flaunt good fortune, that’s not always the case.
It turns out there’s a lot to unravel about why people like to signal wealth online, how it comes across to others, and what the repercussions could be of posting from a private jet, especially if it’s not yours.
“Before social media, we used to have a general understanding that the wealthy had more,” said Jasmine Teer, vice president of strategy for Small Girls PR. “With social media, we can access a 24-hour rotating display of materialism and disparity depending on what we decide to consume and who we choose to follow.”
A buildup of this type of imagery, often juxtaposed with a world where many barely have enough to get by — particularly during the pandemic — can incur a wave of backlash and negativity. It’s not hard to see why there’s resentment. According to data from the Urban Institute, between 1963 and 2016 families in the bottom 10th percentile of wealth went, on average, from having nothing to going $1,000 in debt. By contrast, families in the top 1% saw their fortunes grow sevenfold.
On a regular basis, celebrities find themselves in trouble for being tone deaf to the differences between their lives and those of average people. In April 2020, Ellen Degeneres complained that being in quarantine in her mansion was like being in jail. In February, Chrissy Teigen got a little too casual telling a story about accidentally ordering a $13,000 bottle of wine.
“With social media, we can access a 24-hour rotating display of materialism and disparity.”
Jasmine Teer, vice president of strategy for Small Girls PR
Whether these were intentional flexes or not ceases to be the point. So why does anyone take to social media to do some flaunting?
Sometimes it’s a matter of having some self-awareness and knowing who you’re talking to. Teer gave the example of a boss. It’s probably fair to assume someone in a leadership position is making more money. That’s not bad per se, but that person showing off a lavish lifestyle while layoffs roll through their company is another story.
“Perceptions of opportunity and fairness are likely to play a bigger role in how people react,” Teer said.
Meanwhile, it turns out that gauging how people will react to what you post is hard. A 2018 study published in Sage Journals found that even though nearly 66% of participants thought that signaling wealth or status (check out my new BMW!) would make them more attractive to potential friends, the reverse was actually true. Those potential friends showed less social interest in having a friend with a luxury car, versus a more neutral car, like a Honda.
Reading the signals
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The idea that people are posting in hopes of making themselves look better isn’t surprising. On social media, people often present an idealized version of themselves according to what they think society wants, said Erica Bailey, social scientist and fourth-year doctoral candidate at Columbia Business School. That doesn’t always have to mean wealth, but sometimes it does.
People can get themselves into trouble even just in their own heads, though, when the idealized version of themselves they’re plastering all over Instagram doesn’t match up with their authentic selves.
“Those two pressures really can pull against each other,” Bailey said.
For a study co-authored by Bailey and Sandra Matz, associate professor of business at Columbia Business School, researchers collected data from more than 10,000 Facebook users and found that those who rated their profiles as being more authentic representations of themselves also reported higher levels of self-satisfaction.
“If we know that there’s potential backlash of showing off in your social network … and it doesn’t do much for your own identity, and it doesn’t make you feel like, ‘this is how I want to be seen,’ then there’s essentially no good reason to do it,” Matz said.
That also means, perhaps, that if you’re wealthy, and you derive satisfaction from letting people know, and you don’t care how snarky anyone out there is when you post about your designer lifestyle, everything might be just fine for you.
Matz also talked about how the signals you give could actually indicate your status unintentionally. Wealthier people tend to like things that are incidentally expensive. Those who are lower-income might intentionally prefer things that serve as a badge that they have status.
And while posting a photo of an expensive item might seem relatively surface level, Bailey and Matz talked about how some of this behavior is tied to the wild extremes of wealth inequality, particularly in the US. The average S&P 500 company CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 264-to-1 in 2019, according to the AFL-CIO.
“It becomes really important for people to signal where they are. They want to signal that ‘actually, I’m up here,’ even if they’re not,” Bailey said.
All a charade
Not everyone who flexes actually has wealth, and not everyone with wealth flexes.
Luke Thompson is a partner at UK-based Transmission Private, a reputation management firm that works with people who have an ultra-high net worth. These aren’t people with some extra cushion in the bank, they’re worth north of 100 million pounds.
“They want their privacy to be respected, and they don’t want to be publicized or to self-promote themselves,” Thompson said. “They’re usually very private individuals that want to stay out of the media spotlight, rather than a celebrity that will usually want to court the media.”
The firm has recommendations on how to function on social media without raising eyebrows, and this mostly has to do with being as discreet as possible. Lock your account, make sure you know who’s following you, make sure everyone in your family agrees on what can and can’t be shared on social media, consider what you’re liking or retweeting, take advantage of every privacy setting you can.
One of the reasons for these measures, Thompson said, has to do with survey data the firm collected at the start of 2019, which found that 25% of respondents felt that the flaunting of wealth would be a drag on what they thought of a “successful, wealthy individual.”
For some high-profile individuals of this ilk, the old adage “any publicity is good publicity” isn’t necessarily true. The firm warns that a negative story could have detrimental ripple effects into the future, maybe even tainting future relationships or partnerships with investors, politicians or whomever else.
The one exception to the no-flaunting rule, Thompson said, seems to be when wealth is being put toward a charitable cause.
This idea that wealth and good works can get along in the public eye might be worth paying attention to, Teer thinks. The past year has jostled people’s priorities, whether it’s because of the pandemic or the outcry over social injustice.
“A couple years ago, the most aspirational content you may have come across on a given day could have been a friend’s adventure trip through Japan,” Teer said. “Today, that content might be how a celebrity, a perfect stranger, or a brand responded to a community facing systematic injustice. In pandemic perception, displays of caring have become a new display of wealth.”
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I’ve Loved TikTok for 6 Years. But the US App Lost Its Secret Sauce
Commentary: With new US ownership, the magic of TikTok’s algorithm appears to have run out. And so has my interest.
On Tuesday afternoon, I made one of the biggest decisions of my life: I deleted TikTok from my phone.
As dramatic as that characterization may sound, I assure you it’s fitting. Over the last six years, TikTok has been a trusty companion that’s consumed an immeasurable amount of my free (and not-so-free) time. But as new app ownership takes over in the US, something has irrevocably changed. The algorithm, which once made TikTok so addicting, has been missing the mark, and people are noticing.
Along with billions of other people around the world, I’ve spent countless hours on TikTok laughing over the silliest videos. I’ve bonded with strangers who share my interests and sense of humor, and made niche references that only other people who are chronically online would understand. And I’ve enjoyed the thrill of watching my videos go viral — a feat I rarely achieved on any other social network, no matter how hard I tried.
All of these elements made TikTok my favorite social platform — though it certainly has its issues. Misinformation spreads far and fast. Negative body image can be exacerbated by content on the platform, and sponsored videos often go unlabeled. TikTok’s bite-sized videos seem to have zapped our collective attention spans (watching a movie without picking up my phone feels like a Herculean feat). The app thrives on promoting short-lived trends and “viral” products no one needs. And like other social media sites, TikTok has recently been overrun by AI slop, though it’s testing measures to address the issue.
Still, much of the content I found on TikTok was relatable, helpful, educational and entertaining. The app offered a welcome reprieve from the chaos of life, beginning with a pandemic and continuing into an ever-more-contentious political climate — as well as personal ups and downs. When I needed an escape, I’d pull up TikTok and instantly feel better. The laughs were practically guaranteed, thanks to an algorithm that knew me so well.
the US took over TikTok this week and overnight it has become the most useless app on my phone how is that possible— ludwig (@LudwigAhgren) January 27, 2026
I never expected to ditch TikTok so suddenly. Especially since I remained loyal to the app despite alleged data-privacy concerns tied to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. How could I walk away from something that kept me so entertained and informed? When TikTok (temporarily) went dark in the US last January, I was shocked that something so beloved could disappear.
Now, while I can technically still access TikTok, it feels like it’s truly gone.
What made TikTok special
When I joined TikTok in January 2020, it was a welcome reprieve from the overly curated content that had taken over Instagram. Instead of aspirational posts peddling 30-step makeup routines or unrealistically pristine homes, TikTok served up people dolling out unhinged skits, relatable rants and hilarious impressions. Creators could get thousands, if not millions, of views without looking like a Kardashian. Being authentic was all that mattered. Anyone had a shot at being widely promoted by the algorithm, regardless of their follower count.
Over the years, more of that sponsored, influencer-driven content crept onto TikTok as well. But the app maintained its fair share of unpolished genuineness as well. For every model flaunting perfect skin and a designer wardrobe, a handful of everyday people graced my For You page rocking messy buns and mismatched pajama sets while belting Taylor Swift songs.
TikTok also became a place for community, as well as emotional support and validation. Whenever I had trouble navigating friendships or professional challenges, or simply wondered if anyone else felt the same way about something as I did, I’d go to TikTok. Without fail, I’d stumble upon something that answered my questions or helped me feel seen. TikTok also became a place where voices that are often suppressed by traditional media or other social media platforms could be heard.
All good things must come to an end
Late last week, as TikTok’s US operations began shifting to new ownership, American users got an alert about the app’s updated terms of service. “So it begins,” I thought, not knowing just how drastic and immediate the changes would be.
The privacy policy itself wasn’t particularly startling. Despite apprehension about the invasiveness of TikTok’s new terms, experts pointed out it didn’t vary much from the company’s existing guidelines — apart from, most notably, more precise location data tracking (unless you opt out). I’ve long abandoned the notion that social media platforms care about protecting user privacy, so it didn’t surprise me that TikTok was further extending its reach into our personal data.
Rather, what shocked me was just how much the experience of using TikTok changed, seemingly overnight.
Suddenly, the For You page didn’t feel tailored to my interests at all. My feed was cluttered with undisclosed paid promotions for products I didn’t want, irrelevant home-maintenance videos (I don’t own a home) and cheesy thirst traps. I could scroll through 20 videos and not laugh once — an unprecedented phenomenon. I’d close the app, wondering what was going on, only to try again an hour later and have the same experience. (TikTok hasn’t responded to my request for comment on the unlabeled paid promotions.)
Every two scrolls is either an ad or an undisclosed ad— Jam Jam (@jamie_reuland) January 27, 2026
This appears to be the result of TikTok retraining its algorithm based on US user data. It won’t be easy to replicate the “secret sauce” that made TikTok so addicting, and I don’t have the patience to hang about as the new owners figure it out (or not). I also worry American users will be less likely to see trending content from around the world, leading to a more insular experience.
For several days, I wondered if TikTok was just having a “bad day.” But I soon realized this was probably just the new reality. The golden days were over.
TikTok’s fall from grace
Early this week, US-based TikTok users began flagging major issues. Some reported slower load times and timed-out requests. Others noted a more concerning problem: Political content had seemingly disappeared from their feeds, especially as anti-ICE protests take place across the country. Many creators said videos had drastically lower engagement, with some stuck at zero views.
In a Monday statement, TikTok attributed these issues to a “power outage at a US data center,” noting that it was working to resolve them. It also denied censorship allegations.
the new TikTok algorithm has ZERO, and I mean absolutely ZERO news or politics content, not one word about anything going on at all, not even the weather— Jules Suzdaltsev (@jules_su) January 26, 2026
But there’s been an irreversible shift. TikTok’s new ownership for US operations was presented as a way to address concerns about China accessing users’ personal data. The new entity, called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, says it’ll “secure US user data, apps and the algorithm through comprehensive data privacy and cybersecurity measures.”
Many are skeptical. Given that President Donald Trump approved the investors for TikTok’s new US venture, some worry political bias will warp what they see, or don’t see, on the platform. On Monday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said on X that he’s “launching a review into whether TikTok is violating state law by censoring Trump-critical content.”
After days of hoping the algorithm would once again give me something, anything, that appealed to my interests, I decided to pull the plug. I shared this major life event on my Instagram stories, and was greeted with more than a dozen replies from people who said they’d done the same.
According to Sensor Tower data reported by CNBC, removals of the TikTok app have shot up by around 150% following news of the joint venture’s US takeover. The old TikTok feels like an irretrievable relic of the past.
Perhaps this is ultimately a good thing. I’ve long wanted to cut back my screen time, and TikTok has been the biggest culprit, with its endless wave of perfectly curated videos. But at last, I’ve managed to pry myself away from this once magnetic, time-sucking force.
Maybe now, I’ll have more time to read or take walks after work. I spent my Tuesday evening writing this instead of scrolling through my phone, which definitely felt more productive.
Realistically, I’ll probably just end up wasting my time on YouTube instead.
We May Show Off Because We Are Insecure
Social media has exacerbated our insecurities.
Source: Dalila Dalprat/Pexels
It is often said that social media puts pressure on people — particularly young people — to live up to impossible standards. Our digital persona needs to look good and have an amazingly vibrant life, so we show off holidays, exciting experiences, and successes of every kind, while hiding away all the ugly stuff, of which there is quite a bit in everybody’s life.
Insecurity
We project a marketable image of ourselves, but this is not because we are all narcissists. In fact, the reason behind this may well be the opposite: we may boast about our successes and hide our failures because we are insecure. It is this insecurity that drives us to try to improve the image we hold of ourselves and our own lives. If we get a positive reaction after posting photos of recent experiences, or describing a felicitous event, this reaction will confirm that what we are showing off is indeed positive and valuable. We are then reassured that our holiday was indeed amazing, our achievement at work admirable, and our dog incredibly cute. This can compensate for our insecurities to a certain extent and will temporarily help us forget some of the less attractive aspects of our lives.
The problem, of course, is that everybody else is doing the same thing, so we are all constantly increasing each other’s insecurities in a perfectly vicious circle.
Social norms discourage sharing negative feelings
A significant factor behind the positive bias in how we portray ourselves is that it is simply impolite to talk about unpleasant subjects in most social situations, so most encounters have to be artificially cheerful. We may complain that others only ever talk about their successes and glories, but the reality is that we sometimes may not want to be distressed or bored by tales of other people’s miseries when we are just having a casual drink with them. Doing so tends to be perceived as maladroit and even embarrassing.
Remember too that many people have a limited number of significant friendships with whom they would feel at ease sharing difficult or sad information.
The mechanisms above distort the way in which we perceive the lives of others, so we may end up believing that they all enjoy a nice and simple existence, which is full of successes and fun aplenty. The unfortunate byproduct of this distorted view is that it can lead to the belief that we are the only ones struggling in a relationship, or anxious about whether we’ll be able to make rent this month, or worrying about a medical test result, or suffering with challenging psychological symptoms. Obviously, that’s not the case. Life is difficult for all of us and always contains in every case a significant amount of darkness and pain, hardly ever shown on social media.
So the next time you see or hear somebody bragging about their lives, be compassionate. They may just be showing their insecurities.
Showing off on social media – is it arrogance or confidence?
Eve Dugdale – Special to Al Arabiya English
6 minread
Have you ever heard of the term “humble-brag?”
I must admit, it’s new to me.
However, after researching the word, I’m very familiar with what humble-brags are.
“Tired of people mistaking me for someone ten years younger,” “So much attention in the new car – it’s getting boring now.”
You get the picture – bragging masked by a complaint or humility.
The phenomenon has been in the news recently as researchers at Harvard and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill found that humble-bragging makes people like you less than straight-up self-promotion.
Whether it’s on social media or in person, I must admit, it’s infuriating.
But then again, I struggle with bragging full stop. And wonder if it’s a typical English characteristic.
While my family and friends all happily put themselves down – criticising their bodies or dumbing-down their talents, they all struggle to accept praise.
It’s something Eseyoma Sodje-Waugh has noticed. The British Nigerian mum of two says she was raised to take pride in herself and is never ashamed to mention that she thinks she looks good when she posts a picture on social media.
Eseyoma can’t understand the new style of humble-bragging as she believes there is no shame in highlighting your successes or being proud of who you are.
Yet she gets a lot of resentment from others for her attitude.
“I get a lot of negative reactions from people, especially ladies. They ask why I don’t wait for other people to compliment me and have been called me arrogant,” she says.
“However, I think it’s very important to be proud of who you are – we have got to love ourselves before other people can love us.
“I look in the mirror and I see a very pretty, confident lady and yes, I will tell myself I am gorgeous. I do it with my girls too. I stand at the mirror and tell them how beautiful they are. At the beginning my eldest daughter hated her curly hair but with all my praise, she has come to accept it and I have noticed now how she points out other girls with curly hair and says how beautiful they are.”
Eseyoma says bragging or being confident enough to say she thinks she looks good doesn’t mean she is perfect. Far from it she says, but she’s learned that focusing on the negatives doesn’t get you anywhere.
She adds: “Don’t get me wrong, I have flaws but I have accepted them. The people that call me names are ladies who are insecure in themselves, don’t love themselves so they can’t accept that there are people out there that are in love with themselves.
“It’s very important that mums, especially those who have daughters, can be confident. Children follow their parents’ lead and we need to be our daughters’ idols.”
UAE-based Brit, Chad Glass says people in the Emirates don’t struggle with self-promotion whether it is humble-bragging or straight up boasting.
“The UAE feels like the brag capital of the world!” he says.
“It probably hit its peak about 18 months ago. Some of the classics have been the holding of a glass of champagne in business class selfie or the ‘look what car I’ve bought this week’ social media post.”
However, while Chad admits to struggling to boast about achievements in his private life, he understands why bragging is beneficial in business. As the resident DJ at Sofitel The Palm in Dubai and the man behind Asia-based nightlife website thecitylist.my, Chad says a little self-promotion can go a long way.
He adds: “I do post the occasional picture of where I’m working but that’s more about letting people know locally where I’m DJing. If I’m pitching for something on a business level then there could be a brag dropped in conversation but that’s about selling yourself in somewhere. I try to keep my private life as private as possible.
“Bragging bothers me because I feel there are always people more unfortunate than yourself and rubbing their noses in your successes, particularly on social media, isn’t good.”
Clinical Psychologist and Clinical Director of The LightHouse Arabia, Doctor Tara Wyne says whether bragging is acceptable is a “subjective value judgement” and will vary from person to person.
However, she can totally understand why “humble-bragging” can be more annoying than straight-up boasting.
She says: “Human beings want to share their joy and sorrow with others so it’s natural that people would want others to witness them at their best. If sensitively done and not intended to make others feel small and inadequate, bragging shouldn’t be a big issue.
The problem arises when we are insensitive to others, we choose the wrong time, place and company and belittle others and make people feel uncomfortable. Celebrating one person or their achievements is all good if it can respect and protect the feelings of the others.
“Humble bragging is a phenomenon where people are strategically using part humility and modesty and part boasting to show others their competence and talent but not alienate others by seeming arrogant and full of themselves.
“People feel it’s insincere, perhaps even a little manipulative. The humble-bragger disguises the boast as a complaint, which elicits sympathy, or as humility, which evidence shows makes people more sympathetic towards them and perceive them as more likeable.”
